Internal Branding in Hotels: Interaction Effects of Employee Engagement, Workplace Friendship, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate three variables that may interact with internal branding (IB) in the hotel context: employee engagement (EE), workplace friendship (WF), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This study adopted a survey methodology. 385 valid responses were collected from employees of 20 five-star chain hotels located in the Greater Cairo region of Egypt. The data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between OCB and WF with EE, in addition to OCB, EE, and WF with IB. The mediating role of EE between OCB and IB, besides the moderating role of WF on the relationship between OCB and EE, was also determined. Contrary to the hypothesized model, results showed an insignificant relationship between WF and IB. This study provides a theoretical contribution to deepen the understanding of the internal branding concept in the context of the hotel industry. Practically, this research may be helpful for hotel enterprises in engendering and sustaining effective internal branding practices, which, in turn, could establish new links between internal and external hotel customers. Study limitations and potential directions for further research were also presented.

The Effect of Benevolent Leadership on Job Engagement through Psychological Safety and Workplace Friendship Prevalence in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

“…Further, employees who have close ties with their coworkers have easier communication, trust, and collaboration. Having coworkers who are friends enhances the chance of cooperation, information sharing, and cohesive teamwork, resulting in higher levels of workplace engagement, as individuals feel a feeling of unity and a shared purpose [83,85] Furthermore, the findings revealed that psychological safety and workplace friendship mediate the relationship between benevolent leadership and job engagement, which is consistent with earlier research [9,82,93,97,103,104]. Benevolent leadership contributes to psychological safety, which allows employees to express their unique perspectives and ideas, resulting in increased job engagement and motivation.…”

“…When employees have close relationships with their colleagues, it facilitates effective communication, trust, and cooperation. Having friends at work increases the likelihood of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and cohesive teamwork, resulting in elevated levels of job engagement as individuals experience a sense of unity and a shared purpose [83][84][85]. Additionally, the prevalence of workplace friendships contributes to a positive work environment.…”

Dish the dirt! Dual effects of workplace gossip patterns in linking coworker friendship with incivility in the restaurant context

“…Within the population of interest, data were collected from subordinates who are close coworkers at family-style restaurants in Egypt using a simple random sampling approach. Greater Cairo was chosen because it is home to 40% of Egyptian residents (Khairy et al , 2023) and has expected visitors from other domestic cities and tourist-exporting countries (Khan et al , 2023b). Besides, Greater Cairo is characterized by famous tourist attractions such as the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Cairo Tower (Hemeda and Sonbol, 2020).…”

Distributive Injustice and Work Disengagement in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry: Mediating Roles of the Workplace Negative Gossip and Organizational Cynicism

“…By bridging these gaps, researchers can provide evidence-based recommendations to organizations in this industry, enabling them to foster supportive work environments that mitigate workplace negative gossip and organizational cynicism and reduce levels of work disengagement. The problem raised by the current study is even more of a concern in the tourism and hospitality industries, which are labor-intensive and employ a large number of people while also heavily depending on natural resources [20,21]. The tourism and hospitality business is also known for its fastpaced and dynamic nature, which requires staff to overcome a variety of challenges while providing great customer service [22].…”